The Osiran's Revenge
by Celestina Van Helsing
Summary: An Egyptian Goddess, loose on the Orient Express... but what does that have to do with Robyn Lawson, and... her doppleganger? 5th in a series called 'A Daughter of Time'.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

OoOoOoOoO

An ancient, yet modern, steam train powered through the dark expanse, speeding past stars and planets as it embarked on its maiden voyage. To its passengers, the train was nothing more than a modernised version of an ancient Earth relic called the Orient Express. There was a sense of nostalgia behind the decision to recreate the train in this manner, and a fine vehicle it was, surpassing even the attempt at recreating the Titanic a few years earlier.

Even though it was a space liner, measures had been put in place to ensure that the passengers had the full Orient Express experience, to the point where the train itself shook as if it were really running along a set of track.

On this particular day, the Orient Express was playing host to the Royal Family of Peladon, to celebrate the birthday of King Pelleran's youngest daughter, Princess Rilara. A mere slip of a girl, long dark hair fell down her back, and her grey-green eyes sparkled with mirth. She was the apple of her father's eye, and that was part of the problem. Threats had been made against the Princess, but they'd generally been considered harmless because... well... because there was no reason for them. They had no enemies, none that they knew of, and whenever trouble befell them, a man from another world, the Doctor, was always at hand in their hour of need.

But this time, things were different. Unbeknowst to the passengers, or the crew, of the Orient Express, a top secret cargo had been transported aboard the train. The cargo's owner, Dr. Percival Winthrop, came from a very old Earth family, dating back many, _many_, generations... all the way to the Scarman family. Both the mysteries of science, and archeology, ran through Winthrop's blood, and the cargo that was in his care, was a very rare find from a seemingly deserted planet.

Now, Percival Winthrop had no personal quarrel with the Peladon Royal family, nor did he even know that they were also passengers on the train, but someone he knew, a contact from the Greater Lunar University, did know that the Royal Family was on board, and _they_ were the one sending the threats, for they were part of a group that had plans for both the Princess, and for Dr. Winthrop's cargo.

The cargo in question was very large, and very heavy, so much so that it had been necessary to transmat it into the baggage car. What it was, no one could say, for only Dr. Winthrop and his associate were allowed to see it. But Dr. Winthrop knew how great and important his discovery was, and he knew he could do a fair few things with it. His discovery would open doors that he had never been able to access before, and he had no intention of allowing it to fall into the wrong hands.

But his associate, Dr. Neville Thompson, also knew how great and important Dr. Winthrop's discovery was - for a different reason. Dr. Percival Winthrop had found something that Neville himself had been searching for, and it was something that Neville kept in high regard.

For Dr. Percival Winthrop's great discovery was the Seventh Obelisk...

Which had Sutekh's Consort, Nepthys, sealed inside of it.

OoOoOoOoO


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Princess Rilara had always been interested in trains. She'd always liked them, even though she'd only known about them from the delegations that came from the Earth colonies occasionally. In fact the only reason she and her family were on the Orient Express was because she begged her father to be able see one just once, for her eighth birthday.

So that was how she came to be on the Orient Express that day, and she was doing everything she could to explore the entire thing, just so she could remember how wonderful it was. But she didn't know that forces were converging to harm her, because her parents, King Pelleran and Queen Halessa, had kept the threats a secret from her, not that they believed anything would happen to their little girl.

Rilara moved to the side of the carriage, and looked through the window as the stars sped past her. She marvelled at how bright and beautiful they were, and wished she could see them up close, but she knew she'd never be allowed to travel anywhere on her own until she was grown up, and even then, she realised she'd probably never leave Peladon at all, except for diplomatic missions.

"Rilara, dear, you'll fog the window if you stay there breathing on it," her mother admonished, "and then you won't be able to see the stars any more, will you?"

Rilara glanced at her mother and sighed. "But I can wipe the fog away, mama," she protested, wiping the window with her sleeve, where it had already began to cloud over. "See?"

Queen Halessa frowned. "And get your clothes dirty?"

"But I won't get them dirty, mama, it's just my breath!"

"No more nonsense, Rilara. Now come away from the window, your father will be here soon, and you want to look your best for him, don't you?"

Rilara grinned. She loved her father with all her heart, and she liked getting dressed nicely for him... but she liked making trouble even more. "Yes, mama," she replied, tearing herself away from the window. "How long until he gets back?"

Queen Halessa smiled. "Not long, my dear," she said, taking her daughter by the hand, "but you need to get yourself cleaned up before he arrives, and you know how long that takes when you're in a good mood!"

"More time than when I'm in a bad mood!" Rilara exclaimed, with a laugh. "Come on, mama, race you to the bathing area!"

Without waiting for her mother to reply, Rilara broke into a run, laughing and giggling as she went, knowing her mother would never catch her, or even attempt to catch her, since it was a little difficult to chase after a little girl when you were several months pregnant. But still, it brought joy to Halessa's heart to know that her little girl was having so much fun, as she should when it was her birthday.

"Is she being a little rascal again?" a voice asked behind her, and Halessa smiled when she recognised it. "Because I'll have to talk to her about the proper protocol for acting in public, and we both know that won't do at all."

"Pelleran," Halessa said with a sigh, "she's only a girl, and there'll be plenty of time to instil the proper protocols when she's older."

King Pelleran laughed, a rich, deep throated, sound, then walked over to his wife and embraced her, patting her round stomach affectionately. "I agree," he replied. "There's plenty of time for her to learn, when she's older. Now, I must let her be a little girl, before she becomes a big sister."

"You're here early," Halessa observed. "You weren't supposed to be here for another hour or so."

"Our plans came together quite quickly," Pelleran countered. "So there was no reason to waste any more time, and I was eager to get here and spend some time with my growing family. Is there a problem with that?"

Halessa shook her head. "I just wish you gave us some warning, Pel," she admonished. "I could've had Rilara ready to meet you earlier."

"Don't worry, Hallie," Pelleran soothed, running his fingers through his wife's dark hair, and for a moment, he imagined the pair of them as the lovestruck teenagers they'd been back on Peladon what seemed like a lifetime ago. He could still see the young girl he fell in love with, but now he loved her even more, now that she'd grown into a beautiful young woman, into a wife and mother, and soon to become a mother again.

"Pel?"

Pelleran shook his head, as Halessa's voice drew him out of his daydream. "Mmm?"

"Have you heard anything more about..." she trailed off, unable to bring herself to say the words. She glanced back at the door, where Rilara had raced through not moments before. "About the..."

"About the threats?" asked Pelleran, finishing her thought for her. "Have there been anything else about them?" He shook his head. "There hasn't, and I don't want to talk about them any more. It's not good for you, or for the baby."

"But someone wants to hurt her, Pel," Halessa protested. "Someone wants to take her away from us!"

"We haven't any enemies, Hallie, so there's no reason to worry any more, and I don't want to talk about it!"

"But Pel -"

"No buts. There's no reason to talk about that any more."

Halessa looked at her husband angrily, then drew away. "All right, I shan't talk about it any more, if that's what you want, but it won't stop me fearing for my... our... child's life." She looked down at her stomach and rubbed it tenderly. "For any of our children's lives."

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The Seventh Obelisk had been stowed carefully away with the rest of the heavier cargo, posing an ominous figure amongst the wooden boxes and crates packed around it. A man, wearing a fine linen three piece suit, stood nearby, staring at his acquisition was a careful interest. he had spent a long time looking for the Obelisk, and now that he had it, he wasn't about to let it out of his sight.

This was Dr. Percival Winthrop.

He approached the Obelisk, marvelling at the hieroglyphs carefully chiseled into the stone. It was still more or less intact, as if someone, or something, had kept it well preserved until he found it.

"Still looking at your baby?" a voice asked jovially from behind him, making him jump. "Because that's all you've ever done since we got here."

"I'm not the only one who's been looking, Neville," said Percival, flashing him a wide smile. "Don't think I haven't caught you sneaking away to take another peek yourself."

Neville laughed. "Ah, you caught me there. So what if I have?" he sniffed. "It's my discovery too, you know."

"I never said it wasn't, Neville. Can't have me hog all the glory, now can we?"

Neville thrust his hands into the pockets of his trousers, then joined Percival in admiring the Obelisk. "It's in rather good nick, don't you think, Percy?"

Percival nodded. "It certainly is, Neville... and don't call me Percy."

"Why not?"

"Because only my mother, and certain women of good character, are sllowed to call me Percy. That's why not."

Neville goggled. "You can't be serious?"

"I am serious," Percival replied, but the expression on his face told him otherwise. He let out a hearty laugh. "Of course I'm not serious, Nev, and I'm surprised you ever thought I was!"

"Sometimes it's hard to tell with you, Percy."

Percival stood abruptly, and turned to leave. "I feel like going to the dining car, Nev. Care to join me?"

Neville looked at him carefully, then glanced at the Obelisk. There was another reason he wanted to examine the stone monument, but didn't want to alert his friend to that fact. "No," he said slowly. "I think I'm going to stay here with our baby for a while longer. Make sure it's not getting jostled about by the other cargo too much. I'll be with you later though."

Percival frowned, but accepted this, for the time being, and then left the carriage.

Neville waited a few minutes, until he was sure he was well and truely alone, then turned to the Obelisk once again. He looked at it almost reverantly, then started to push away the boxes and crates immediately in front of it, opening up a space where he could stand before the Obelisk more freely. He knelt in the empty space, then touched the hieroglyphs with his hand, brushing his fingers lovingly across the surface of the stone. "We're alone now, my dear," he murmured softly, as the image of a beautiful young woman appeared before him. "And the child is here, ready for you to take control, whenever you want her."

The image of the young woman smiled. "You have done well, my darling," she purred, her voice soft. "And once I am free, you will get your promised reward."

Thoughts of great treasure danced through Neville's head, riches beyond his wildest dreams. There was much that he wanted, and much that the young woman had promised him, and now it was close, tantisingly so, and he wouldn't stop until his job was complete.

He'd met the young woman in a dream, and initally believed that was all she was, but the more she appeared to him, and the more she promised him, the more real she became. Everything he'd done had been under her instructions, with the promise of a reward at the very end, once the young woman had a form of flesh and bone once more.

She'd specifically requested the body of a child, so she could grow and learn, instead of a fully grown adult, who could fight back the possession. Which child didn't matter, at least not until Neville had found out that the young Princess of Peladon would be on the same voyage of the Orient Express as the obelisk.

"You won't hurt the child, will you?" he asked, concern flashing across his face briefly. "She will remain unharmed?"

The young woman's image smiled again. "She will be fine," she assured the older man, her pristine white teeth gleaming as she smiled wider. "No harm will come to her, and none ever will. I will merely be sharing her body, not taking it as my own."

Now, Neville did not know this at the time, but what the young woman told him was a lie. In fact everything she told him from the very beginning was a lie. There was no treasure, and no great reward - not for him, at any rate. The young woman was playing with him, playing on the human pechant for greed, something that some humans still had yet to leave behind.

"Oh, of course," he replied, feeling slightly, but not completely, relieved. The thought of the threats that the young woman had made him send still plagued him, and he wasn't entirely sure that he should trust her, but then one look at her beautiful face, and hearing her delicate voice, placed him back under her spell. Between her beauty, and the promised reward, there was no way he could resist her, no matter how hard he tried. Not that he ever wanted to.

"You should return to your friend," the young woman prompted. "He'll be wondering where you are, and what you're up to, and we wouldn't want him to get suspicious, would we?"

Neville shook his head. "No, we wouldn't," he agreed mechanically, reaching out to the image and gesturing like he was caressing its cheek. "I should go." He rose stiffly, then gave the image a slight bow, then turned on his heel and left the room.

The image of the young woman smiled cruelly as she watched her willing puppet make his exit. "Soon, I will have life, and form, again," she said to no one in particular. "And when I do, everyone will know the name of Sutekh's consort... and fear it."

OoOoOoOoO

Something wasn't right, thought Queen Hallessa. She could feel it the moment that she and Rilara had boarded the train. Even the baby could feel it, she noted as the child attempted to fitfully kick its way out of her.

Why were they doing nothing? Why weren't they doing everything they could to protect her daughter?

'Are you okay, mama?' Rilara asked quietly, as her mother helped her dry her hair.

'I'm all right, Rilara, nothing to get worried about.'

Rilara nodded, accepting this, but she still wasn't so sure. Her mother had been unusually quiet since her father had joined them. Was there something going on that she didn't know about? And if there was, then did it have something to do with her? Is that what was making her mother so sad?

Once Hallessa was finished, Rilara stood, and turned to face her, then put her arms around her mother's waist as far as she could. 'I love you, mama,' she murmured. 'Don't be sad.'

Hallessa smiled, touched by her little daughter's gesture. 'What makes you think I'm sad, sweet one?' she asked.

'I don't know,' Rilara replied honestly. 'But you feel like you are. So I thought giving you a hug would make you feel better. Did it work?'

'Yes, my sweet one, it worked.'

'Then you're not going to be sad anymore?'

Hallessa shook her head. 'No, I'm not going to be sad anymore.' She stood, then took her little daughter by the hand. 'Now, shall we go and visit you father? He's come all this way to see you, and we wouldn't want to keep him waiting, now do we?'

Rilara laughed. 'No, mama.'

'Then let's go, and you can show him the new dresses you have for your birthday dinner.'

Rilara's eyes lit up. She loved the new dresses that her mother had made for her, because they were made from special fabric. Each dress could be made identical, or different, on command. Innocent enough on its own, but in the hands of a Princess... But the trouble a simple dress would cause was the furthest thing on anyone's minds, not when there was a birthday dinner, which would soon have a few uninvited guests, to worry about.

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	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two  
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'Last one to the wardrobe's a rotten egg!' Amy crowed, hitching up her skirt and racing ahead of her husband with glee.

Rory watched her quickly retreating form with a look of mock surprise, then gave chase. 'Then I better get there first!'

The newlyweds raced down the corridors, deliberately taking the longest route that they could within the ancient time ship's halls. They weren't worried about getting lost, since they knew that she wouldn't let them get lost.

Not unless they wanted to.

Amy looked over her shoulder, realising that Rory was almost directly behind her, so she ducked into a side corridor, and waited until he was well and truly past her.

She was going to give him this one.

There'd be other opportunities to beat him, and there'd be time where he'd let her. With this thought in mind, she started off again, then stopped when she heard voices coming from a room to her left. A door had been left slightly ajar; a door which the figure of a rose carved into it. She forgot about Rory for a moment, then winced, realising what a stupid thing that was, and then approached the door to listen to what was being said.

The Doctor was in there, she realised, and so was Robyn, and they were talking about Rose.

The girl the Doctor had lost.

The girl the Doctor had loved.

She frowned, taking a step back gingerly, and inspecting the carving on the door. Had this been Rose's room? Must have been. So why was the Doctor in there? Why was Robyn in there? Was there something that connected the little girl to the Doctor's lost love?

She pressed herself against the wall again, listening by the door. Her eyes widened when she heard the Doctor tell Robyn that Rose was her mother.

And that he was Robyn's real father.

She'd only been joking when she'd said that the little girl could've easily be mistaken for his real daughter, so to be proven right was a big surprise. But it was still sad though. A little girl whose father didn't even know she existed until a mere fluke brought them together, and whose mother was trapped in a parallel universe...

Did Rose even know Robyn existed?

Did she?

The Bad Wolf certainly knew about Robyn, but did the real Rose Tyler know that the Bad Wolf had created a daughter for her with the Time Lord she'd loved?

'Amy?'

Amy looked up, and found Rory standing in front of her, looking at her with an expression of confusion on his face. 'Amy, what's wrong?'

Amy glanced at the rose on the door, then back at her husband. 'Nothing, Rory,' she murmured. 'It's nothing.' She smiled at him. 'I thought we were having a race to the wardrobe?'

'We were, but then you gave me the slip.'

'Okay, so we'll just start again.'

Rory didn't reply, for he was looking at the figure of the rose on the door. 'Who stayed in that room?' he asked instead.

'A friend of the Doctor's,' Amy replied sadly, and she felt slightly ashamed with herself for... reducing Rose's status to that of a mere friend, when she now knew that she had been so much more to him than that. She took Rory by the hand. 'Come on, let's go find the wardrobe.' She was about to lead him away, when the door opened slowly, and the Doctor and Robyn stepped out of the room.

'Amy? Rory? What are you doing here?' asked the Doctor, looking at them with mild surprise.

'We were... uh... just trying to find the wardrobe, Doctor,' said Rory, cutting in before Amy could say anything to the contrary.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. 'Well, if I remember correctly, the wardrobe is that way.' He pointed down the corrider back the way Rory had come from. 'There's nothing interesting down here.'

Amy felt the urge to correct him, but she held her tongue. Instead she smiled. 'In that case, last one to the wardrobe is a rotten egg!' she said once again, and ran down the corridor.

Robyn, Rory, and the Doctor, looked at each other in confusion for a moment, then the Doctor grinned. 'Well, you heard her, get a move on!' he said, and the three of them gave chase, laughing all the way.

OoOoOoOoO

By the time they reached the wardrobe, Amy was already there, and looking rather pleased with herself. She waited in the doorway for her her husband, and her friends, until they reached her, and then gave a wheezing Rory an amused look. She sighed. 'Come on, let's find something to wear that won't have them giving us funny looks when we get to the Orient Express,' she said, taking her husband by the hand.

As she watched them enter the wardrobe, Robyn looked up at her father with an odd expression on her face, as if she wanted to ask him a question, but wasn't sure how to phrase it.

'You're wondering why Rory's out of breath, but we're not,' the Doctor murmured, taking in her expression. 'That's because you, that is to say we, have some things that humans, full humans, don't.'

'That's the part of me that's like you, isn't it?'

The Doctor nodded. 'Yes, that's the Time Lord part of you. You're human on your mother's side, and Time Lord... well, Gallifreyan, on my side. And there are things that come with being half Time Lord, or full Time Lord, that humans don't.' He knelt in front of her, and took her hand, holding it to the left side of his chest. 'Feel that?'

She nodded. 'It's your heart.' Her father moved her hand to the right, and Robyn's eyes widened. 'You have two hearts,' she murmured.

'That's right.'

'Do I have two hearts?'

'You might, given enough time. You're still a little girl, so your second heart hasn't started to grow yet, but it will, and when it does, you'll feel it. It won't be a strong as the one you've got now, but it'll be there.'

Robyn looked at him fearfully. 'Will it hurt?'

'No.'

The Doctor's answer was so short, and so precise, that for a moment she didn't believe him, but she had faith that he wouldn't lie to her.

Not about something as important as this.

'The other thing you've got, that Rory doesn't,' he went on, 'is a respiratory bypass. It kicks in when you need a bit of extra air, or you can use it to control your breathing. I've used mine countless times to fool people into thinking they've killed me.'

Robyn nodded. 'Would you teach me how to use it?'

'I'll teach you everything I can about the respiratory bypass, and your hearts, when the time is right.'

'Thanks Dad.'

'Now, we should see what Amy and Rory are getting up to. Can't have them getting lost in the wardrobe, now can we?'

The Doctor took his daughter's hand, and led her into the wardrobe, which was filled with rack upon rack of clothes from every time period imaginable, and even some not so imaginable. Robyn marvelled at the sight of it all, for this was the first time she'd been in there. The TARDIS had given her a small wardrobe of her own after she came aboard, so there'd been no reason for her to explore its slightly larger, and more easy to get lost in, older cousin.

'Do you wear all this?' Robyn asked in amazement. 'Or is it just for show?'

'I haven't worn everything in here,' the Doctor replied, but it's the first place I'll go after I've changed to choose something new to wear... well, usually if I don't get caught up somewhere else first. Here, I'll show you some of the things I used to wear.' The Doctor led her over to one of the racks at the side of the room, where eleven different sets of clothes hung in a row. He picked up a long woollen scarf, and looped it around himself. 'I used to wear this when I travelled with your Aunt Sarah... I should take you to meet her one of these days.'

'I've got an Aunt Sarah?'

The Doctor smiled. 'Oh, you've got more than an Aunt Sarah. You've got an Aunt Martha, and an Aunt Jo, and an Aunt Liz, and an Aunt Donna...' His smile faded. 'And I'm rambling again. You're supposed to stop me when I ramble.'

Robyn giggled. 'Am I?'

'Yes.' He unwound the scarf from his neck, then replaced it on the rack. 'Wait here,' he said, leading her to a chair. 'I'm going to change back into my other clothes. The TARDIS will be landing soon -'

'And we'll be on the Orient Express? In space?'

'And we'll be on the Orient Express. In space,' the Doctor echoed, a wry smile playing on his lips. 'Now wait here, and don't wander off.'

OoOoOoOoO

Robyn managed to do as she was told for a good ten minutes, sitting patiently while she waited for her father. But she soon got bored. Why did she have to wait when she was in the biggest wardrobe ever? Taking a quick look around couldn't hurt, could it? She could always look for Amy and Rory, but then they might be busy, and probably wouldn't have time to spend with her.

She sighed, then jumped out of the chair. 'I know Dad told me not to wander off, but... I'm bored,' she murmured, addressing the TARDIS. 'He'll understand, won't he?' She paused, listening to the timeship humming away, and she smiled when she thought she heard a wavering response to her question.

She wandered through the huge wardrobe, looking at all the beautiful outfits and costumes that her father had accumulated over the years, and deciding that one day she'd have to spend a good several hours in here just playing dress-up. Hopefully with Amy, if she wanted to.

'Where are you off to?'

Robyn scowled, and turned to face her father, who was now back in his tweed jacket, red shirt and bow-tie, black trousers, and worn dusty boots. 'I was going to explore, but now you're back.'

The Doctor laughed, adjusting his jacket. 'Of course I'm back. I always come back.'

The scowl fell from Robyn's face, and was slowly replaced with a shy smile. 'Yeah, you do, at least for me you do.'

Before the Doctor could reply, there was a sudden jolt, and then everything went quiet. 'There you are, the TARDIS has landed,' he said brightly. 'Now all we need to do is find Amy and Rory, and then we'll go outside.'

'What do you think we'll find out there? Besides the Orient Express, I mean.'

'Well, there'll be an Egyptian Goddess running around, won't there?' The Doctor frowned. 'Unless we're early, and she hasn't gotten loose yet.'

'What, we might be early? What for?'

'The TARDIS can be a tricky old girl, and she doesn't always do what I tell her to. Sometimes she takes it upon herself to put us where she believes we're meant to be. Certainly makes things interesting. And if we are early, then we'll get a head start, and might even be able to do some preventative measures. This point in time isn't fixed, so it should be safe.'

Just then, Amy and Rory joined them, dressed in their regular clothes once again. 'We've landed, haven't we, Doctor?' asked Amy, smiling knowingly.

'We're about to,' the Doctor replied. 'The old girl's just letting me know we're wanted in the console room. Come on!'

There was a feeling of excitement in the air, as the Doctor took off, his daughter and companions scrambling to keep up with him as he took them back to the console room. But it was a familiar feeling, that small rush of joy that crept inside when you had no idea what you were going to find, yet still wanted to know anyway, and there was nothing that would take that feeling away.

Not that easily.

The Doctor danced around the console, giving out orders to Amy and Rory whenever he had the opportunity. Robyn watched him carefully, committing them to memory. She didn't want to forget a single thing about her father - not one word he'd said, or anything he did. After nearly losing him to the Neverspace, making sure that she had him deeply intrenched in her mind was her top priority.

Losing him once had been bad enough, but to lose him again would be too hard to bear.

As the Doctor flicked the last switches, and then pulled on the handbrake, he turned to Robyn and grinned. 'Well, here we are,' he announced, taking her by the hand and turning to face his companions. 'Outside those doors, we'll be inside the Orient Express. Coming?'

Three wide smiles greeted him in reply, and the quartet quickly made their way out of the ship. Exactly as the Doctor had said, they found themselves in a room made up to look like part of a old Earth train carriage. Robyn gazed at the room in awe, then let out a small gasp when she saw something move in the corner of her eye. 'Dad?' she said, tugging on his jacket. 'I think there's someone in here with us.'

The Doctor frowned, following his daughter's gaze, then smiled when he realised what she was talking about. 'Well, this feels familiar,' he murmured. 'Doesn't it, Amy?'

Amy looked at him in confusion. 'What do you mean?'

He pointed to the corner of the room, where a little girl was staring at the four of them, her eyes wide with surprise, and then back at Robyn, who had a similar expression on her face. 'Now, do you understand?'

'I think I do,' she murmured. She glanced at Robyn. 'You haven't got any sisters running about, have you?'

Robyn shook her head. She would've known if she had any sisters. She would've remembered having any sisters, and her father would've told her if she did... at least, she _hoped_ he would've told her if she did... He wouldn't keep something like that a secret, would he?

Especially when it looked like they'd just found her identical twin.

OoOoOoOoO


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

'Spatial Genetic Multiplicity,' said the Doctor, studying both girls carefully. 'Of a sort.' He approached his daughter's twin, a pleasant smile gracing his features, and crouched before her. 'Hello,' he greeted. 'What's your name?'

The little girl was quiet for a few moments, as if trying to decide whether or not answering him was a good idea, then she whispered, 'Princess Rilara,' she softly as she could.

'And what are you doing here by yourself, Princess Rilara?'

'Hiding from my mama and papa. We're playing a game.'

The Doctor nodded. 'And where are your parents now?'

Princess Rilara grinned. 'Getting everything ready for my birthday party,' she replied happily. 'It's my birthday today, so Papa arranged to have my party here on the Orient Express.' She peered over the Doctor's shoulder, and looked at Robyn, who was staring back at her, trying, and failing, to understand what was going on. 'How come that girl looks like me?'

'Ah, now that is a bit difficult to explain in terms you'd understand, so let's just say... it's a kind of magic that only happens to special people.'

Princess Rilara frowned, and cocked her head. 'Like in the stories my Papa tells me about Aggedor?'

The Doctor raised his eyebrows, slightly surprised by what he was hearing. 'Aggedor? Aggedor of Peladon?'

The little girl nodded. 'Yes. My papa is King Pelleran, and my mama is Queen Hallessa of Peladon.'

'Who's your grandmother? Queen Thalira? No, wait, that's King Pelleas'... greatgrandmother, I think. Then that would make your grandmother Queen...'

'Erimem.'

The Doctor snapped his fingers. 'Of course! Erimem! Well, Peri was right, she was going to have some good looking kids! And grandchildren! Wait a minute, hold on, I'm rambling, aren't I?' He turned to face his daughter. 'You're meant to tell me when I'm rambling, Robyn.'

She giggled. 'Sorry, must've forgot. Meeting your double can do that to you, you know.'

At first, the Doctor didn't reply, instead leading the little Princess over to his companions. He brought the two children face to face, so they could see how alike they truly were, then took his daughter by the hand, drawing her close to his side. 'This is my daughter, Robyn,' he began, nodding at both girls, 'and my travelling companions, Mr. and Mrs. Rory Pond,' he said, introducing them all to the little girl.

'Williams, actually,' said Rory, hastily correcting him, half forgetting that despite her young age, he was in the presence of a real live Princess. 'It's Mr. and Mrs. Rory Willams.'

Rilara smiled. 'Nice to meet you,' she said, 'and I think my mama and papa will think so too.'

'And I would very much like to meet them,' the Doctor replied. 'Although, they might realise who I am when you introduce us, Princess. I'm a friend of the Peladon Royal family,' he added, addressing Rory discretely. 'And saved their world more than a couple of times.' He frowned, getting a faraway look in his eyes. 'Peri was with me the last time I was there, and Erimem too. She married the King...' He looked down at Rilara again, and smiled. 'And now here you are, her granddaughter!'

'So they know who you are?' asked Amy.

'Not on sight, but my old friend Alpha Centauri usually vouches for me.' The Doctor looked around expectantly. 'Where is Alpha? Shouldn't he be here?'

Rilara shook her head. 'Uncle Alpha is back home with my big brother, looking after Peladon while we're here.'

'Good. That's very good. Means Peladon is in good hands... All six of them. But not so good for us, if we get into trouble. Then again, we're not going to get into trouble, so we'll be fine.'

Rilara giggled. 'My mama and papa are going to like you,' she said. 'You're funny.'

'Funny, am I?' the Doctor replied, glancing at Amy with a wry smile. 'Funny's good. Anyway, I think it's time you took us to meet your parents, your highness, because I think they will want our help.'

'Why?' the Princess asked, an look of confusion crossing her little face.

For a moment, the child's expression reminded the Doctor of a similar look, one tbat Robyn had given him earlier that day, when they were talking about her mother. His smile widened, and then he said, 'Because I believe there's something I can help them with, if they let me.'

'Oh. All right, then.' The little girl turned on her heel, motioning for the quartet to follow her, and then skipped ahead along the corridor.

'Okay, why - no, how does this Princess look exactly like Robyn?' Amy hissed in the Doctor's ear as they walked along, still amazed by the resemblance between the two children. 'Are you sure she's not your kid too?'

The Doctor nodded. 'Absolutely sure, Amy,' he assured her, adjusting his tweed jacket and discretely removing the sonic screwdriver from his pocket. He pointed it at Rilara, and did a brief scan of the child, then showed the readout to his companions. 'Spatial Genetic Multiplicity, of a sort. There are a few similarities, but Rilara here registers as a one hundred percent Pel child, whereas...' he scanned Robyn, then showed them the readout for the second time, 'Robyn registers as half human, and half Time Lord. As she should. Of course, the human part of her shows up as the dominant stream in her DNA, but that'll change as she gets older, and the Time Lord part of her takes over.'

Amy opened her mouth to reply, clearly not impressed with his answer, but stopped when they were led into another carriage. This one was much grander, richly furnished with the most accurate recreations of the decor from the original Orient Express they had ever seen.

'Mama!' Rilara cried happily, running to a woman, whom the Doctor noticed was quite heavily pregnant, seated by the window.

The woman smiled. 'Hello, my sweet one,' she replied. 'What are you so happy about?'

'I've found a friend to play with.'

The woman looked at her daughter, then at the Doctor, Amy, Robyn, and Rory, in alarm. 'What?'

The Doctor raised his hands in a peaceful gesture. 'Let me explain.'

'Yes,' said a new voice, as a tall man entered the carriage. 'I think you should.'

OoOoOoOoO

'I am a very old friend of your family, your majesty,' the Doctor began, attempting to bring some semblance of calm to the tense atmosphere that had fallen over the room. 'As I told your daughter, your mother, Erimem, was a former travelling companion of mine, and we saved Peladon together before she decided to stay behind.' He frowned, letting his words sink in, then pressed on, 'But I've also saved your home planet on two other separate occasions. You've more than likely been told stories about me, and those stories would've been passed down through your family long before your mother heard them.'

'You're the Doctor?' asked Halessa, as it dawned on her what he was telling them. 'From Mother Erimem's stories?'

Pelleran snorted. 'But those were just stories, Halessa, and besides, wasn't the Doctor Mother talked about a different man?'

The Doctor remained quiet for a moment, thinking about how to approach the question. It had been a long time since he looked like the person from Erimem's story, so the only way he could convince Pelleran was if he told him something Erimem, and only Erimem, could've known. 'Erimem nearly killed herself with poison from her signet ring,' he said quietly. 'I had to save her with my blood.'

Halessa gasped, and Pelleran's eyes widened. That part of the story had always been glossed over whenever it was told to the children when they were still too young to understand such things, but it had always been told in full once the children were of age; so for someone else, an outsider, to know the same thing... well, it was unheard of. So there was no doubt in Pelleran and Halessa's minds -none whatsoever - that this man, this Doctor, was telling them the truth. He _was_ the same man, just with a different face. But how was that possible, they wondered. Mother Erimem had told them there had been special properties to the Doctor's blood, properties that had been used to save her life... maybe that was how he was able to change his appearance so easily.

The Doctor grinned. 'You believe me now, don't you?'

Pelleran nodded. 'There's no point trying to deny it,' he replied. 'When my own existance is thanks to your rescue of my mother.' He moved over to Halessa, and sat down beside her. 'And I also know, from what my mother told me, that you only arrive in the gravest circumstances.'

Amy and Rory exchanged a look. One of them was going to have to mention the telephone call, if the Doctor didn't mention it first, but it was going to be difficult to explain what a telephone was to the King and Queen.

Fortunately, the Doctor got in first. 'We were summoned,' he informed Pelleran, 'by you. But something tells me that we're early, either on purpose, or our ship jumped a time track by accident. Which means, your majesty, when we've done what we came to do here, you need to call my TARDIS. She'll do the rest.'

Halessa raised her eyebrows. 'The rest of what?' she asked, eyeing the young man suspiciously.

'We'll get to that later,' he replied. He clapped his hands together, and took a seat opposite the royal couple. 'Now,' he glanced at Robyn and Rilara, who were now chattering animatedly between themselves, 'I believe someone has been threatening your daughter's life,' he said, lowering his voice.

'Yes,' Halessa admitted quietly. 'For a while now. It's part of the reason why Pelleran and I decided to hold Rilara's birthday dinner here on the train, because we thought any threats would be carried out back on Peladon.' She pulled a letter from her pocket, and handed it to the Doctor. 'But then I found this.'

The Doctor read the letter, imprinting each word into his mind. From what he could tell, whoever wrote it meant a great deal of harm towards the little Princess. But what did the Princess have to do with the Seventh Obelisk, and the Egyptian Goddess that was supposed to be running around? Something didn't make sense. Not yet, at any rate. He'd have to keep a close eye on the Princess, in case anything happened to her, and he'd have to keep a close eye on Robyn as well, to make sure she remained safe while she and the Princess were together. But first, he decided, he needed to take a look around the train, to see if he could find anything else suspicious going on. Rory and Amy could look after Robyn for the time being. He stood, and stuffed the letter into his jacket pocket, then returned to his companions. 'I want you two to stay here with, the King and Queen, and the girls. I'm going to take a look around the train, see if I can find any evidence of this Egyptian goddess.'

Amy scowled. 'What, you're just going to off on your own? No way, Doctor, I'm coming with you.'

Before he could protest, Rory intervened. 'You shouldn't go alone, Doctor, not when we don't know what's going to happen yet. I'll stay here and look after Robyn.'

Amy smiled appreciativelly, then kissed her husband on the cheek. 'We'll be back as soon as we can. Love you.'

'Love you too.' He turned to the Doctor. 'You keep her safe.'

'I'll do my best.'

'Thanks, Doctor.'

OoOoOoOoO

'You travelled with the Queen of Peladon once?' asked Amy, as they entered the next carriage. 'How'd you manage that one, Doctor?'

'She wasn't the Queen of Peladon when I travelled with her, Amy. And besides, that isn't important right now. Finding this Egyptian goddess, on the other hand, is.'

Amy sighed. 'Whatever you say. Where should we start then?'

The Doctor didn't reply for a few moments, taking the opportunity to scan the room with the sonic screwdriver. 'We'll talk to the other passengers first,' he said at last. 'And after we've done that, we'll see if we can find our way into the cargohold.'

Amy frowned. 'Why the cargohold? What could be important to this Egyptian goddess in there?'

'The Seventh Obelisk for a start,' the Doctor replied. 'Someone could be transporting it, and obviously, that's where it would be. And obviously, we need to find out who's transporting it.'

'Okay, so let's find out,' Amy said impatiently. 'We should start looking through the cabins, yeah?'

'Yeah, that's exactly what we should do.'

'So, let's go!'

The Doctor sighed. 'Yes, all right. Come along, Pond.'

The Doctor lead Amy through the train once more, poking their heads into the cabins along the way, frightening the occupants occasionally, even though they tried their best not to. But no one they spoke to knew anything about the Egyptian goddess, or the Seventh Obelisk, who might have it, or even why it would be on the train.

Until they met Dr. Winthrop, and Dr. Thompson.

'The Seventh Obelisk? Yes, we know about the Seventh Obelisk,' Dr. Winthrop replied jovially.

'You do?' the Doctor inquired. 'How?'

Dr. Winthrop beamed proudly. 'I own it, in a manner of speaking.'

'You own it?' Amy echoed.

'Yes, I own it,' Dr. Winthrop repeated. 'Only until we get to Earth, and it can be transported to the National Museum of History in London. It's to be put on display there.'

The Doctor frowned. 'Ah. Right. Archeologists?'

Dr. Thompson nodded. 'Yes, that's right. Why?'

The Doctor muttered something under his breath (something which Amy could've sworn sounded like 'Archeologists. Always fiddling with things they don't have any business fiddling with), and then smiled. 'Oh, no reason. Hmm, better introduce myself. I'm the Doctor, and this is my friend, Amelia Pond.'

'Dr. Percival Winthrop, and this is my associate, Dr. Neville Thompson.'

'Pleasure to meet you both,' the Doctor replied, shaking both their hands, and performing a quick scan with the sonic. Of course, he attempted to hide this carefully, but he could tell Amy noticed what he was doing, especially from the way she smirked at him when he did it.

'You were asking about the Seventh Obelisk?' Dr. Winthrop continued, curious about their inquiries.

'Yes! Yes, we are,' the Doctor confirmed. 'We...we're...Egyptologists! Freelancers really. We're interested in the history of the Obelisk. There's rumours, or legends, about the Obelisk being the final resting place of one of the old Egyptian goddesses.'

A flash of worry crossed Dr. Thompson's face. Did these people know about his beloved? Did they mean her harm? 'That's nothing but fairytale, myth, legend. No truth to it at all, he said quickly. 'None what so ever.'

And of course, the Doctor noticed the man's worry. 'I'd really like to see for myself, before I go dismissing things too quickly.'

'Is there any possibility we could see the Obelisk, Dr. Winthrop,' asked Amy, smiling sweetly as she turned on her feminine charm. 'We'd really like to, if we could.'

Dr. Winthrop smiled back at her. 'Well, I think that could be arranged, Miss Pond.'

The thought of correcting him crossed Amy's mind, but she decided for the time being, that Dr. Winthrop and Dr. Thompson should continue to believe that she's single.

Or assume the Doctor's her husband.

How she'd explain that one to Rory, she'd have /no/ idea.

Instead, she smiled brighter. 'Thank you, Dr. Winthrop, I appreciate that very much.'

A thought crossed the Doctor's mind, and he leaned over, his mouth close to Amy's ear. 'Keep Drs. Winthrop and Thompson busy, Pond,' he murmured. 'I'm going to have a snoop through the cargohold, now that I'm sure the Seventh Obelisk is on this train.'

Amy tilted her head in a slight nod, and the Doctor straightened once more.

'We were just about to head to the dining car for dinner,' Dr. Winthrop announced. 'Would you and Miss Pond care to join us?'

'No,' the Doctor said hastily. 'Well, that's to say, no for me. I need to find my daughter, actually.'

'I wouldn't mind joining you though,' Amy added.

Dr. Thompson frowned. 'Weren't you looking for the Seventh Obelisk, Doctor?'

'Yes! Yes, we are, but we were also looking for my daughter, Robyn. Amy could do with a break, so I don't mind her joining you while I continue the search.'

Dr. Winthrop sighed and shook his head. 'I don't know what's made you so suspicious lately, Neville,' he muttered. 'Let the man be, and lets go to dinner, shall we?' He offered Amy his arm. 'Miss Pond?'

Amy linked arms with Dr. Winthrop, a gentle smile on her face. 'Coming, Dr. Winthrop.'

The two archeologists, along with Amy, left the cabin, and the Doctor remained free to continue the search for the Seventh Obelisk, alone.

'Now,' he muttered to himself. 'To find the cargohold.'

He headed down the corridor, not realising that Dr. Thompson had turned back, following close behind him.

OoOoOoOoO


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

Meanwhile, the children were getting acquainted. They were quite happy to play together, while Rory watched them. The Doctor trusted him to look after the little girl, very much in the same way that he trusted the Doctor to look after Amy. He also suspected that if he didn't look after the little girl, the Doctor would treat him in the same way he treated the Doctor regarding Amy.

If either girl got into trouble, Amy, Robyn, or even Princess Rilara, someone, either him or the Doctor, would get into deep trouble themselves.

So, there he was, watching two little girls, almost twins, getting aquainted. It could've been worse, he supposed. Right now, they could've been in the middle of a war zone on some far off planet, instead of on the Orient Express (in Space!) trying to find an Egyptian Goddess who was due to cause trouble at some stage of the trip.

He leaned against the wall, listening to the two little girls talking. At least there wasn't any Egyptian Goddesses running around right now.

'Your Papa's the Doctor, the one that Grandmama Erimem traveled with?'

'Yeah,' Robyn replied. 'He is. But I wasn't with him then.'

'Oh.'

Rilara sighed. 'I'm bored.'

'Me too,' Robyn replied. Then she got an idea. 'Hey, why don't we explore the train?' she suggested, which piqued Rory's interest.

He'd get into trouble if those two wandered off on their own. Two little girls wandering about on a space-faring train was not, in his mind, a particularly good idea. Not when the Doctor was probably doing some poking around of his own.

'I don't know... what about Rory?'

Robyn frowned. 'What about Rory?'

'We can't go anywhere without him, can we?'

'Why not?' Robyn countered. 'My dad goes exploring on his own all the time.'

'Of course he does,' Rory thought to himself. 'He goes off exploring on his own, and then gets into trouble, so me and Amy have to keep bailing him out.' He frowned a little. 'Or _we_ get into trouble, so _he_ has to come and save _us_.' Which wasn't such an odd thing to happen either.

"Well...maybe...' Rilara paused, then smiled. 'Why don't I show you my costume for my birthday party instead!' She grinned evilly. 'I've got an idea of something fun we can do too.'

'What?'

'I've got two costumes. Identical. We could both wear them! We're already twins already, so why not dress like it?'

Robyn slowly started to smile. Get to dress like the princess? That would be _so_ cool! Why not? What harm could it do? 'Yeah! That sounds like a great idea...' She grinned, getting an idea herself. 'And we can swap places, and make everyone think I'm you, and you're me! We can even try fooling my dad!'

Rory chuckled, rolling his eyes at the suggestion. 'Like the Doctor could be fooled by something like that,' he muttered to himself. 'He's clever. He'd be able to tell which was which, wouldn't he? He'd know his daughter on sight, or there'd be some strange Time Lord-y way he'd know without thinking about it, wouldn't there?'

Rilara grinned and nodded. 'Yeah! We can do that!'

'They're going to get into trouble,' Rory muttered to himself. 'It's inevitable.' He sighed. 'And if the Doctor isn't around to get them out of it, it's good old Uncle Rory to rescue, isn't it?' He frowned again. No, don't call yourself old, Rory. Not yet, anyway.

And so, the two girls, under Rory's watchful eye (who knew exactly what they were plotting, and intended to tell the Doctor the next time they saw each other), decided that they would dress the same for the princess's birthday party, and pretend to be each other for the duration of said birthday party.

But neither of them knew how bad that would be in the long run. Of course, they didn't think about the threats to the princess's life, because they didn't know.

And neither of them knew their little charade would put one of them in grave danger.

OoOoOoOoO

"Now...cargohold...which way?" the Doctor mused.

He'd been walking for a while now, still following the corridor along the train. He wasn't yet aware of Dr. Thompson following _him_ however, but he had a feeling that _someone_ was behind him. Soon he came to the end of the corridor, to a tall door. There was nothing overly remarkable about the door, just that it was tall.

Well, that, and the fact that it was locked. Not that it'd be locked for very long, once he was done with it.

"Ah, let's see where this leads," he murmured to himself. He quickly used the sonic on the lock, and pulled the door open slowly, revealing the boxes and crates behind it.

The Doctor grinned. "Cargohold. Brilliant."

He entered the cargohold carefully, picking through the boxes, and scanning their contents with the sonic. "Hmm, not important. As I thought." He scratched his head. "The Seventh Obelisk, where would it be? It's /got/ to be here, I mean, how can you miss a bloody great thing like that?"

He sighed, and continued working his way through the boxes.

Dr. Thompson, as he watched the young man working through the cargohold, was becoming increasingly worried. If he found the Seventh Obelisk, he'd take it, and _her_ away from him. He couldn't allow that to happen. Not at all. Not _ever_. He loved his goddess. He couldn't stand to have her taken from him. Especially not by this 'Doctor'. There was something not right about this 'Doctor', he mused. He was certain there was something bad about him, but what?

"Have to get rid of this 'Doctor'," Dr. Thompson muttered to himself, climbing up onto a stack of boxes. From his higher vantage point, he watched carefully as the Doctor headed further into the cargohold, unknowingly coming closer and closer to the Seventh Obelisk, and his own demise.

"Hello, what have we got here?" the Doctor asked himself, as he came closer and closer to a very tall object covered with a tarpaulin. "Well...we're cooking now..." He pulled the tarpaulin from the object, and smirked to himself. "The Seventh Obelisk. Here you are. Beautiful, as expected. And deadly, also expected. You have something inside you," he went on, addressing the Obelisk. "Something that should never be allowed to get out. Hmm. I wonder. What's the chance you've already managed to get out? Even just a little bit? Using your power to influence some poor human into doing your will? Seen that before. Another of your kind, too. But that was a fair few bodies ago, and not important right now. Or is it? Hmm. Maybe it is? Or only half is?"

The Doctor stepped back a little, admiring the hieroglyphics. "Yes. Osiran. And not a good one. Nepthys. I fought our husband, you know. Well. Your Consort, Sutekh. Beat him too."

He's encountered others like my beloved? That isn't good, Dr. Thompson thought to himself. He knows too much already. He _needs_ to die. How though? Dr. Thompson looked around carefully. He could knock him out and throw him from the train, but that might result in too many witnesses. Particularly that Miss Pond. If she saw anything, she'd have to die to. And again, if she too went missing, and suddenly turned up dead, that would arouse suspicion.

He paused in his thoughts, and looked around him. However, if this Doctor were to have an accident while in the cargohold, that wouldn't garner too much suspicion, would it? Accidents happened on trains, didn't they? Particularly in the cargohold where lots of crates and boxes could fall off each other, couldn't they? Yes. That could work. Would it work from here? Yes, it might. Better to get closer though. Push a tower of boxes over, and try to catch the Doctor in the line of fire. Yes. That would _definitely_ work.

Dr. Thompson climbed down from his perch, and slowly worked his way towards the Doctor, and the Obelisk. He sized up a tall stack of boxes, gauging the amount of force he'd need to use to make them topple over, then waited for his moment to push. Close to the Obelisk as he was, he could already hear his beloved's voice in his head, encouraging him to fulfill his task.

"Anyway. I need to make sure you're sealed up tight, Nepthys, and make sure you're never free to wreck havoc again. Sorry, dear." The Doctor raised the sonic, then paused. "I know this should really be done during the prayer meeting, but I haven't got time to organise it. Emergencies and all that."

Before he could say another word, he heard a shifting and scraping noise coming from his left, and he turned, just in time to see the stack of boxes bearing down on him.

OoOoOoOoO

Amy Pond was bored.

Not that was Dr. Winthrop wasn't pleasant company (he was, but he seemed to drone on and on about subjects that no matter how interesting he tried to make them, just... weren't), but he talked, non-stop, about his work, which compared to the things she'd seen with the Doctor, were about as interesting as a rainy day back in Leadworth.

She'd tried, for the entire time she spent with him in the dining car, to direct the conversation to the Seventh Obelisk. She wanted to know what it was, and what the story about the Egyptian Goddess entailed. She knew from what she'd gleaned from the Doctor's phone call, that the Goddess had been sealed inside the Obelisk, and was, at least at the time of the phone call, running around the Orient Express (in Space! Couldn't forget that part).

"Oh, you don't want to know about that old thing, do you?"

Amy nodded. "I do, Dr. Winthrop, honestly." She smiled demurely. "Please? Tell me about it?"

Dr. Winthrop considered for a moment. The story wasn't one of the most pleasant things to talk about, but the delightful girl (young lady, he corrected in his head) was incredibly interested, and he supposed he could reward her for being so attentive even when he could tell she was getting bored.

"All right," he said at last, straightening his tie nervously. "I'll tell you, but be warned, it isn't exactly the nicest of tales. Then again, history isn't always a pleasant thing to talk about. Particularly personal history, but we're not talking about that now, are we?"

Amy shook her head. "Oh no, of course not."

Her own personal history wasn't something she'd want to share with the kind professor anyway. Besides, what could she tell him? Casually mention that the Doctor she travelled with was a time traveling alien? That he'd rebooted the universe, erased himself, then implanted a story in her head designed as a way for her to bring him back through the power of her memory? That her husband was once a man made of plastic, and spent nearly two thousand years guarding her near dead body in a giant box? Best case scenario was that he would believe her implictly, without question. Worst case scenario was that he wouldn't believe her, think her insane, and get her commited.

She didn't want to risk getting commited, so she smiled, keeping her mouth shut.

Dr. Winthrop smiled back, then leaned back in his seat. "Now, the Seventh Obelisk is still a bit of a mystery. It was a miracle, in my opinion, that we even found it."

"Where _did_ you find it?" asked Amy. "In Egypt?"

"No, not in Egypt, although, you'd expect it would be, wouldn't you?" The professor shook his head. "Anyway, we found the Obelisk on a planet far from here, I..." He paused. "I can't recall the name, but I can tell you, I was astonished to find it in the first place. The Seventh Obelisk had been all but considered a fairytale, so no one, or very few, ever endevoured to look for it." He frowned, thinking about Dr. Thompson. "Then one day, my comrade, Dr. Thompson came to me babbling about a dream he'd had, where he'd been shown the exact location of the Obelisk. So we set out as soon as we could, setting up a dig exactly where he'd been shown in his dream." He paused again, scratching his beard. "And it turned out that he was right. The Obelisk was exactly where we'd started digging. It took a while, but eventually, we got it out, and had it all packed up for transport on this very train."

Amy looked at him curiously. "Is there a legend or anything about the Obelisk?" she asked, hoping her line of questioning wasn't making him suspicious. "Any stories, or legends?"

Dr. Winthrop nodded. "Oh, plenty of stories and legends, my dear," he replied. "So many, that it's difficult to tell what's true, and what's made up."

Amy leaned forward in her seat, resting her chin in her hands. "Could you tell me some?"

"Well, there are a few legends about a Goddess supposedly being sealed inside. A form of punishment, I believe, for either a great crime, or evil, she'd commited, or just for being a general nuisence."

"I'd like to hear more about this Goddess," said Amy, smiling brightly. Now she was getting somewhere. "I love legends. Pandora's Box was my favorite story as a little girl."

Dr. Winthrop smiled, then scratched his beard again, deep in thought. "Well, let me see. The Goddess was supposedly Nepthys, the consort of Set, or Seth, or Suteck..."

OoOoOoOoO


End file.
